An Unexpected Letter
by livesonwisteria
Summary: It's the summer holidays after Harry's first year. Dudley recieves an unexpected letter. Petunia isnt impressed.
1. Chapter 1

_**Title: A Unexpected Letter  
Summary: Dudley recieves a rather unexpected letter in the summer holidays after first year. What happens? What house is Dudley sorted into? How do Vernon, Marge and Petunia react?Chapter: 1  
Length: 688 words.**_

It was still the first week of Harry's school holidays from his wizarding school, Hogwarts school for witchcraft and wizardry, and he already couldn't wait to go back. Summer with the Dursleys was just as dull and awful as normal, probably more so because he had spent the whole year away from them. He could only hope that Ron's mother agreed to let him stay at their house for a few weeks, like Ron said that she would.

Looking up from his meagre breakfast as he realized it might be a good idea to listen to Uncle Vernon's newest lecture. It seemed that again, Uncle Vernon was complaining about Hedwig. Would he ever learn that it would be fine if she was just allowed to fly around?

Next thing he knew, he was being yelled at _again_. Who knew one little word could be taken so badly, the Dursleys really took the word magic out of context.

"I WILL NOT TOLERATE YOUR ABNORMALITY UNDER THIS ROOF!"

"All right," replied Harry, hoping Uncle Vernon wouldn't find it rude. He didn't want any more ammunition against him. All of his school things including his broom, wand and robes had been locked under the stairs as soon as they arrived back from the station, and he didn't know if it could get any worse.

Today was his twelfth birthday. It wasn't a great shock to find out that the Dursleys weren't planning anything, just like his previous birthdays. Indeed, today was a day that the Dursleys were planning something they found very important, and it wasn't Harry's birthday. They were hosting an important dinner party for Uncle Vernon's company, Grunnings, which sold drills. It was hoped that the rich builder and his wife that were coming tonight would give Uncle Vernon a huge order, or as he said, 'the biggest deal of my life,'

They were currently having a run through, this visit really had been totally planned.

"We should all be in position at eight 'o' clock," said Uncle Vernon. "Petunia, you will be -?" 

"In the lounge," said Aunt Petunia promptly, "waiting to welcome them graciously to our home."

"Good, good. And Dudley?"

"I'll be waiting to open the door," Dudley put on a foul, simpering smile. "May I take your coats, Mr and Mrs Mason?"

"They'll love him!" cried Aunt Petunia rapturously. 

"Excellent, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon. Then he rounded on Harry. "And you?"

"I'll be in my bedroom making no noise and pretending I'm not there," said Harry tonelessly.

"Exactly," said Uncle Vernon nastily. "I will lead them into the lounge, introduce you, Petunia, and pour them drinks. At eight fifteen-"

"I'll announce dinner," said Aunt Petunia.

"And Dudley, you'll say-"

"May I take you through to the dining room, Mrs Mason?" said Dudley, offering his fat arm to an invisible woman. 

"My perfect little gentleman!" sniffed Aunt Petunia. 

"And-" Uncle Vernon stopped glaring at Harry, and turned his gaze to Aunt Petunia who was standing with a very weird expression on her face, and staring at the kitchen window.

"What is it Petunia?" snapped Uncle Vernon, he didn't have time for this. The Masons would be here in only a few hours, he had to go over the plans one last time. He turned around to look at the kitchen himself, and then saw what had her looking so shocked, he only managed a grunt, as what was there had managed to turn him speechless as well.

Wordlessly, Aunt Petunia walked over to the kitchen window and pulled the latch, allowing the owl that had been hovering there to enter. It wasn't just any owl though. The owl had a letter tied to its leg which bore the Hogwarts crest, and it was addressed to - Mr Dudley Dursley, The Largest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive, Surrey…

A/N: Some of the text was copied directly from Chamber of Secrets, just to set the scene, it should be underlined if it was. I know that this isn't the exact way things happened in the books, but I thought it might be more effective this way. Please review (=


	2. Chapter 2

Harry stood there, paralyzed with shock

Harry stood there, paralyzed with shock. Was this some sort of joke? He wouldn't be too happy with Fred and George if they were in on this, no doubt Aunt Petunia would find some way to blame this on him.

However, if this real, well, he didn't really care to contemplate it. Dudley would have to go to Hogwarts with him. Just when he thought that he had escaped the Dursleys for good, there was Dudley following him to Hogwarts, his sanctuary.

The owl fluttered gracefully into the kitchen, in a way that reminded Harry greatly of Hedwig, his own owl who needed to fly instead of being cooped up in her cage, just as he was, only his 'cage' happened to be 4 Privet Drive, somewhere he would hopefully leave soon.

With no respect for the owl, Uncle Vernon yanked the letter from its leg, causing himself a rather a painful owl bite. Wincing, he dropped the letter and bent down to pick it up and jumped with shock, straight into the table, at a loud popping noise that Harry recognized as the sound of apparition.

However, the creature that had apparated into Privet Drive was not something or someone that Harry recognized, he had never seen anything like it before, but it reminded him of a goblin wearing a pillowcase. Aunt Petunia looked just about ready to burst with the amount of magic happening in her home, and he didn't imagine that Uncle Vernon was too happy either, especially after the lecture he had given Harry at breakfast about zero tolerance to magic, or any mention of it.

The creature rushed at him, "I is Dobby the house elf and I have come with a message for the great Harry Potter,"

Vernon was looking on, his face a mixture of shock, disbelief and anger.

Petunia, meanwhile, was looking through Dudley's Hogwarts letter, deciding that she might as well read it, it had to be a prank, after all her son couldn't be one of those freaks.

"Mum," said Dudley, a look of confusion present on his face (this was normal). "What's going on?"

"Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts this year, there are grave things in store. It is-"

"That's it!" snapped Uncle Vernon on an impulse, his face the very picture of fury. "Out, the both of you. I won't tolerate this abnormality in my house, freaks aren't welcome here."

"Dad?" said Dudley, looking scared.

"I _mean_ it," said Uncle Vernon, his tone full of malice. "Your mother and I are going to have a drink, and I want you gone by the time we're finished. Go stay with the freaks, you are one now after all."

Petunia was looking slightly shocked at this decision, she did agree with it, but wasn't it a bit extreme? "Vernon-"

Not losing his resolve, or his look of fury, he simply said, "I've made my decision, Petunia,"

The kitchen door then slammed behind the two adult Dursley's, and left Harry and Dudley standing in the hall as Petunia tossed Dudley's Hogwarts letter to him.

"What are we going to do?" asked Dudley.

"I don't doubt that your parents were serious, grab a few things and we'll find somewhere to stay, and a way out of this. We're part of the same world now Dudley, we're both wizards," explained Harry, they were in the same situation, so if he treated his cousin nicely, then Dudley would probably do the same back.

With a look of terror, Dudley nodded and headed upstairs. Meanwhile, Harry realized that he would have to find a way to get his school things from the cupboard under the stairs. Pulling on the door, he realized it wasn't even locked, just bolted, and with a grin he pulled his trunk and broom out of the cupboard, pulled an outer robe on, something that was sure to annoy Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon under normal circumstances.

There was no point in getting anything from his room, there was only a few pairs of oversized clothes there, but, then he suddenly realized Hedwig was still up there. How could he have forgotten something so important?

Dashing up the stairs, he grabbed Hedwig's cage and ran back down the stairs and met Dudley at bottom, who had an abnormally large hiking rucksack on his shoulders.

"We better go," said Harry, attempting to sound sympathetic to the boy whom he had hated for most of his life.

They headed out of the door, and walked along the street, Harry dragging his trunk, owl and broom and Dudley panting with the weight of his rucksack.

"So, Potter, what's your plan?" asked Dudley. At least Potter is an improvement on Scarhead.

"Well, I don't really have one," replied Harry.

"But you're the wizard, you should know what to do," stuttered Dudley.

"Incase you've forgotten, you're a wizard too, and we're both in the same mess,"

"You were a wizard first," exclaimed Dudley.

"Oh yeah, such a good comeback," said Harry, with biting sarcasm, while he couldn't help but think that it might be a good idea form them to start getting alone more if Dudley was going to Hogwarts.

Dudley fell back on his normal behaviour, raising a hand to whack Harry, but jumping rather suddenly when a loud bang came out of nowhere.

A huge, triple decker, violently purple bus, seemed to appear out of thin air. Gold lettering over the windshield spelled The Knight Bus.

"What's that?" muttered Dudley in awe.

"I don't know, but I think that its our way out of here. Don't be shocked if I use a fake name, I'm rather well known here. Hopefully I'll have enough to pay for both of us, I have a bit of money left over in the moneybag at the top of my trunk,"

The door opened, and the conductor looked at them expectantly, "Are you getting on?"

"Yes, one second," called Harry, as he struggled to pull his trunk, Hedwig's cage and his Nimbus up the stairs, with Dudley on his tail. Pushing his fringe over his scarf, he looked up.

"Let me help you with that," said the conductor, and with a flick of his wand, the things were inside the bus. "Forgot about the underage law."

"Thanks," said Harry with a look of relief, going up the stairs, followed by Dudley. What he found was not a normal bus, it seemed much bigger on the inside than on the outside. Unlike a muggle bus, it didn't have rows of hard seats, but instead had a few rather comfy looking armchairs and sofas covered in an assortment of cushions and pillows, next to a few assorted tables and there was even a bookcase at the back of the bus which a few books had fallen from. He didn't know what was on the two floors above them, but guessed that it was just the same.

"The names Stan Shunpike, by the way," said the conductor.

"How much is it?" said Harry.

"Depends where you want to go,"

After thinking for a while about where was the best place to go, Harry said, "London, the Leaky Cauldron in London please,"

"Eleven Sickles," said Stan, "but for thirteen you get hot chocolate, and for fifteen you get a hot water bottle and a toothbrush in the color of your choice. Double it if you're paying for the both of you."

Harry nodded, then bent over and undid the catch on his trunk, thankful that he had spent a few knuts on the train home at the end of the year, meaning it was now at the top of his rather expansive trunk. Handing over two galleons, he tried to figure out what that would be in sickles, and realized he should be getting four sickles in change. He would have to do something about Dudley, he couldn't go around with no wizarding money. Hopefully he had had the sense to bring his bank book, he knew that there was hundreds of pounds in there and at noon on a Wednesday, there was certain to be an open bank in London, as Gringotts wasn't for Dudley right now.

"Two please,"

"That'll cost you a galleon and thirteen sickles," said Stan, taking the two gold coins that Harry handed over, and giving him four silver sickles in return, as well as two steaming mugs of hot chocolate, two hot water bottles, a green toothbrush for Harry and a blue toothbrush for Dudley.

Harry thanked Stan, then walked over to the armchair his things had been placed next to and collapsed into it, it certainly had been a stressful start to the day, he thought as he sipped the creamy hot chocolate.

Looking up, he saw Dudley next to him. Dumping the rucksack, Dudley also collapsed into the rather squishy armchair that was next to Harry.

"Is it true then?" asked Dudley, his face betraying his true emotions.

"Is what true?"

"Am I really a wizard?" said Dudley, rather sceptically…


	3. Chapter 3

"Of course you are," said Harry, rolling his eyes. "If you weren't then why would you have gotten a letter from Hogwarts?"

"It might be one of your freak friends, they would probably find something like that funny," sneered Dudley.

Harry sighed, he really was about to lose his patience with Dudley. He had gotten him kicked out of the house, turned out to be a wizard, made Harry spend a large amount of his money and was now still looking down on wizards.

Looking directly at Dudley with his most piercing stare, Harry said "You do realize that you are pretty much undeniably a wizard, right? If you must, I can get a book in Diagon Alley that will have spells that show things like how much magic you have so you'll definitely know. Calling me a freak is pretty stupid as well, you're basically calling yourself one too,"

Dudley didn't really know what to say to this, it was undeniably true, but everything was changing so fast. Harry had been classed as a freak, also by extension other wizards, by him and his parents for so long that it was hard to just simply stop and act like a normal person around him.

"I guess so," he mumbled, before asking if Harry had a plan.

"Not really," replied Harry. "I do, however, have a few ideas of things we will need to do to survive. We'll need money obviously, I know you have some muggle money in the bank so we can stop there. Gringotts is also somewhere we'll need to go, it's the wizarding bank where all of my money is, I hope that it will be enough for this summer. Then, most importantly we'll need to find somewhere to stay for tonight at least, probably for a lot longer in fact. When I was at Diagon Alley last summer I noticed there were a few hotels and also The Leaky Cauldron has a few rooms, so that should be fine unless you want to stay in the muggle world, although two teenagers would attract attention there. I guess we might need to contact someone soon."

"Alright," said Dudley, trying to take in all the information his cousin had just given him. "Dad said that there was over a thousand pounds in the bank, how many will we need to stay in one of these hotels for a few nights?"

"Well, first of all, in the wizarding world we don't use pounds. There's a different currency all together, and it can be quite confusing. There's the bronze knuts which are worth the least, there's 29 of them in a silver sickle, and there are seventeen sickles in the gold galleon, the most valuable one. Get out about a hundred pounds I would say, I'm not sure, but it seems as if it should be at least six hundred galleons, which is so much, but you'll have lots of things to get like school supplies as well as food and hotels," explained Harry, taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

"Okay," nodded Dudley, taking a glance out of the window and seeing Big Ben. "Looks like we're pretty close!"

"Looks like it," agreed Harry, and was shocked to realize that it was probably one of the first times in his life that he and his cousin had actually agreed on anything. "I'll just remind Stan where we want to get off."

Clumsily, Harry made his way to the front of the bus, panting out their destination.

"Sure thing," wheezed Stan, and pushed a button that accelerated the bus, causing Harry to nearly fall over.

Five minutes later, they arrived on Charing Cross Road, Harry and Dudley stepped off the bus.

"Well, this is it," said Harry, looking up at the pub known as the leaky cauldron.


	4. Chapter 4

"I can't see it," moaned Dudley.

Rolling his eyes, Harry said, "Look at the space between the music store and hairdresser and concentrate,"

"Oh," said Dudley, suddenly seeing it. "The entrance to the wizarding world is on a normal street?"

"Yes," said Harry. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I dunno, I just thought it would be a bit more secretive," replied Dudley.

"You've definitely been watching too much James Bond," said Harry, laughing. "Oh, and wizards normally call 'normal' people like your parents, who have no magic, muggles."

"Was that why the giant called my parents muggles?"

"Yes, and his names Hagrid actually,"

"Will he be at that school?" said Dudley, the fear evident in his eyes.

"Yes, he works there. I'm sure he won't do anything to you if you behave,"

"I…I will," stuttered Dudley.

Harry had to roll his eyes at Dudley's mood swings, it was his parents fault. If only they hadn't been treated so differently, then Dudley wouldn't hate him so much, Harry would have had a better life, and when Dudley got his letter things would be a lot different. All in all, it would have been a win win situation.

But, things had turned out quite as he had wanted to, and the present was what mattered right now, and he had to introduce Dudley to the wizarding world. Having no experience of the wizarding world would mean that he would be completely vulnerable, a dark wizard might even kill him for being related to Harry.

"Come on, we had better go in," said Harry, walking up to the door, trunk in his hand. Dudley followed behind.

The man behind the bar looked shocked to see Harry and Dudley, racking his memory, Harry remembered the barkeeper from the previous year and his name was Tom.

"Harry!" greeted Tom. "You're here early, most students don't get their supplies till late August. Who have you got with you?"

"This is my _friend_, Dudley. We're here looking for a room, not for school supplies."

"Oh really?" said Tom, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," said Harry, trying to think of a reason they were there, any reason other than the truth. "I'm showing Dudley around the alley, and we want to spend a few days here."

"Okay," nodded Tom, even though for some reason he still looked slightly suspicious. "I have a few rooms available, how many do you need?."

"I guess we'll need two rooms," said Dudley, feeling the need to say something as he had been quite quiet for the past few hours.

"That'll be seven sickles per night per room," said Tom.

Dudley looked confused at this, obviously not very familiar with wizarding money, and Harry had to explain that in muggle money, it was quite cheap, just wizarding money was more valuable.

"Ok, put us down for three nights just now, I'll tell you in advance if we need any longer, how much will that be?"

Tom told him the amount, and Harry gave him a handful of gold and silver, which was exchanged for the room keys.

"Make sure you stay safe in the alley, you never know what sort of dark wizards there are about. You can always come to me if you need anything, I'll try my best," said Tom, trying his best to be helpful to the two boys who seemed like they shouldn't be here. Why would two young wizards, especially Harry Potter, be wondering round without supervision?

A/N: I know its short ;) Would you please tell me what story you want me to concentrate on, obviously I have quite a few on the go right now…


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